The 1907 passenger list that Pink found for me a few days ago turned out to be gold mine of information. My great grandfather (Pietro Allaria) must have been coming back after a trip to Italy and he brought with him five relatives who had not been to the America before. They were all going to the same post office box address in a copper mining town in Upper Michigan that was listed as my great grandfather's resident. We knew from oral history that relatives had worked the mines up there but we didn't know exactly where until seeing the town on this passenger list.

Anyway, on the list it also gives the name of the town in Italy where my great grandfather was born. It's listed as s. Giorgio Cam???se. I've been trying to search the internet for something that fits but I'm not sure what the "S" stands for---is it San or Saint or just S? And does anyone have a guess as to what the word following 'Giorgio' is suppose to be---the Cam???se. I'd like to find a little history about the town, circa 1860 around the time my great grandfather was born.

Jean try the public library in San Giorgio Canavese for the 1860 historical information you are seeking. Biblioteca, Comune di San Giorgio Canavese, Via Dante 25, 10090 (TO) Piemonte or send e-mail to municipio@comunesangiorgio.it Keep to simple english sentences =Peter=

Thank you both for your help. I used Ada's link about San Giorgio Canavase as the background information for my great grandfather's hometown. It was just what I wanted. Later I'll write to Peter's source so I can add more details if I get a reply. I checked with the post office yesterday about sending letters to addresses written in Italy. For future reference if anyone wants to know: all we have to do here in America is write 'ITALY' at the very bottom.

Just a little note... Pietro's relative listed on the same arrival manifest was Massimo Allaria....

I want to show you this interesting 1888 arrival manifest...I think it's the first arrival for Aurelia .... she's listed under tha Alaria last name and was travelling with a child of 2 years.... There are some mistakes because the child is listed as male, but we know she was a little girl....

That is amazing! I'm awestruck. My great-grandmother's birth date from one of the later census records lines up with the birthday on this Philadelphia Passenger List! It has to be her, and no one in the family knew a single thing about her.

Thanks for the spelling correction on the Massimo and for the compliment on my blog. The blog is going to be my Christmas present to many people in the family.

Here's the link to the official website of San Giorgio's City Hall
http://www.comune.sangiorgiocanavese.to.it/Unfortunately the website is only in Italian, but surfing it shouldn't be too difficult and you may find some nice pictures to eventually add your already awesome blog.
Also, many people from San Giorgio emigrated to U.S. at the beginning of XX century: some stayed there, other came back after a few years (that's why I seem to remember San Giorgio has a particular street where more houses are built in what we call "American style" - single unit with a small front garden -, quite unusual here since a few years ago). Anyway, that's just to say that if you write in plain English to the City Hall (mailto:municipio@comunesangiorgio.it) asking for your ancestor's acts, chances are you'll get an answer since that won't be the first request of that kind they receive.
Hope this helps.
Ciao,
Maurizio

Thanks for the website! I may have to inspire some of my relatives to all get together and to tour our ancestral homeland. From the pictures I've seen so far on the web, your county is beautiful.

That's interesting about the street of "American Style" homes in San Giorgio. One of the areas where some of my Italy ancestors ended up after several moves around the county is a place that very much reminds me of photos I've seen of the San Giorgio castle on the high cliff. Now I know why my ancestors liked that particular area of the USA.